If you want a drama that takes its characters as seriously as its plot, The Chart Show is available on streaming right now. 13 seasons of it means there is plenty to get through without ever feeling padded. Strong word of mouth says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. The ensemble never overplays its hand. Start it whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

The Chart Show arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. The Chart Show takes its time building the world its characters inhabit, and the patience pays off. The Chart Show is a music video programme which ran in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 between 1986 and 1988, then on ITV between 1989 and 1998. The production company was Video Visuals, and was credited as "A Yorkshire Television Presentation" from 1993 and 1998. The show has lived on through a Channel 4 revival in 2003 and a more recent revival on the digital music channel Chart Show TV, which ran sporadically from 2008 and 2009. The series ran for 13 seasons (1986–1998), building a story that gave its audience time to invest properly. The writing trusts the audience to sit with ambiguity rather than wrapping everything up in a tidy conclusion — it is the approach that separates good drama from great. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

For anyone looking for storytelling that takes its characters seriously, The Chart Show delivers. The tonal similarities to The Kelly Clarkson Show are real, though The Chart Show carves out its own identity quickly. 13 seasons gives the story real room to develop. The writing gives every character enough weight that no single performance has to do the heavy lifting. It makes everything else feel thin by comparison.

The Chart Show wrapped up in 1998, created by Phillip Davey — and 13 seasons are available to watch from start to finish. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.